Summaries for the Sixth and Seventh General Meetings…
…because apparently I’ve gotten into an every-other-week habit. I’ll try to break that next week. The meeting for October 27, 2009 was, however, a rather poorly attended meeting anyway (it was pouring in a sort of end-of-the-world fashion, which may explain that), so not much happened. The meeting on November 3, 2009, however, was far more exciting.
To start, we discussed field trips. The general consensus was that this coming weekend’s trip to the zoo wasn’t really such a great idea. Not a lot of people are available, it’s cold, and transportation is iffy. So we’ve canceled that trip and hope to go sometime in the spring. Maybe with some more time to plan ahead, we can arrange for a van. Maybe not, I make no promises. Such promises are not something I can make as a modest scribe. What this means is that we’ll have more money this semester to spend on our trip to the Franklin Institute. Which means we can pay to see Body Worlds. Which is awesome. This trip is currently scheduled for Sunday, November 15, 2009.
Following this discussion, Claire W led us in an experiment to calculate the speed of light using marshmallows and a microwave. I was deemed “unusual” for my lack of culinary appreciation for marshmallows, a judgment which has been made many times before by others and is likely apt. You can read about how the experiment works here. Yang (our president) also demonstrated how microwaves tend to spark if turned on with nothing in them.
In the future, we’d like to do more activities like this. If you have any ideas, please let one of the members of the board know. (Commenting on this blog works just fine, as do email and shouting at us from across Merion green.) It doesn’t have to be an experiment. It can be a science-y game or something you think the club members would like to watch (like an episode of Mythbusters, which will totally happen as long as I’m still in the club).
Speaking of games, please procrastinate by writing a few definitions for Science Apples to Apples. The sooner we get them written, the sooner we can play. Obviously.